Ion Hazzikostas to German Magazine: Sub Rogue Redesign!?

buffed: You want to give the classes more identity. How does that happen?
Hazzikostas: We do not completely turn the classes upside down, but bring back some skills. Legion says we've gone too far in some classes and specializations, so gamers have not felt comfortable with the character they've been traveling with for years. But we want to fix problems that exist: capabilities that do not work, how they should. Talent series that are way too powerful. A complete overhaul, such as the survival hunter, who suddenly no longer fights from afar, but from near, we do not intend. But there are some specializations that we want to touch. These include, for example, the deception scoundrel, because in recent years he has moved very much in the direction of shadow magic and teleportation, and that no longer corresponds to what one imagines under a WoW villain. We may be more in the direction of control, sneaking, and the image of the PvP archetype.

They gonna end up making all 3 rogue specs the same again, just that you don't use finisher x you use finisher y. You guys will end up badly with this..

We really won’t. All three specs still play similarly with sub being the most different as well as the most clunky. We still use sinister strike/mutilate to build up to 5 combo points and then eviscerate or what ever outlaw uses. Dispatch? The main difference in the specs was previously cooldowns. We all shared poisons, stuns, and other utilities like shiv. Going back to this is a good thing. I’m not an assassination rogue, I’m a rogue

We really won’t. All three specs still play similarly with sub being the most different as well as the most clunky. We still use sinister strike/mutilate to build up to 5 combo points and then eviscerate or what ever outlaw uses. Dispatch? The main difference in the specs was previously cooldowns. We all shared poisons, stuns, and other utilities like shiv. Going back to this is a good thing. I’m not an assassination rogue, I’m a rogue

Quoted for truth. The "class identity" nonsense in legion was one of the worst things to happen to rogues.

Originally Posted by Kaleredar

Nah nah, see... I live by one simple creed: You might catch more flies with honey, but to catch honeys you gotta be fly.

I wouldn't mind if the "shadow magic" visuals were available for rogues of any spec as some sort of customization option like warlock green fire or a series of glyphs for individual skills. I think it would be cool if everyone could have that add certain kinds of flair to their abilities. Like an option for holy priests to have all their skills use the soft blue/white light of Elune for their heals instead of the standard yellow light we see by default. Cosmetic options like that are cool imo.

Don't play rogue but I'm really happy for you guys. Let's hope other specs will see some well-deserved love as well.

One thing I don't understand though:Legion says we've gone too far in some classes and specializations, so gamers have not felt comfortable with the character they've been traveling with for years. But we want to fix problems that exist

What is this supposed to mean? Sounds like they're saying "We went too far with the class redesigns in Legion but it's nothing we want to adress right now so we're just going to fix problems with classes as they are now."
If that reading is correct, that's really disappointing.

I must be in the minority in that I loved sub in Legion, BfA just has too much downtime without the artifact ability and perks. But then again I also loved sub before Legion, so whatever it takes to make it good and fun in PvP. I really hope they leave the shadow magic aspect alone though, or even spread it to the other specs.